Zebra Mussel At Pomme De Terre Lake In June.

[solus_vero]

Monday, Aug 24, 2009 -

Microscopic zebra mussel larvae turned up in samples of water taken by workers with Missouri Department of Conservation at Pomme de Terre lake in June.

It will take approximately six weeks to analyze the remaining samples and determine whether other Missouri reservoirs are infested.

Because Pomme de Terre Lake is upstream from Truman Reservoir, discovery of zebra mussel velligers in the larger reservoir is almost certain.

In the past, the pests have also have turned up in Lake Taneycomo, Bull Shoals Lake and in the Osage River below Bagnell Dam.

Full story here - http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=178801

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Seams it's only a matter of time before we will be reading about all the damage the Zebra mussels are doing at the LOZ.

I understand what kind of damage they do, but, I have to wonder, with the amount of bacteria and waist water that is in the lake right now, couldn't they at least help filter the water? I don't think the Zebra mussel is the answer to the water pollution problems but if something isn't done soon our Ozark lakes could be nothing more than big cesspools our children and grandchildren will have to clean up.

Do you think the Zebra mussel (they are coming, it's just a matter of time) will help with the quality of water ?

[Wayne SW/MO]

I'm afraid they are here to stay and they will only spread faster.

The lakes are becoming more cloudy every year and that won't change from human intervention. The DNR doesn't work that hard at prevention and with the huge number of septic tanks around the lakes the input is not going to change.

I don't know how well the mussels tolerate silt, but if they don't some lakes will have areas free of them.

Do you think the Zebra mussel (they are coming, it's just a matter of time) will help with the quality of water ?

For fishermen the answer is probably yes, but for the environmental stability, no.